Alain Joissains | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Aix-en-Provence | |
| In office 29 June 1978 –18 March 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Félix Ciccolini |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Pierre de Peretti Della Rocca |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alain Joissains 30 August 1942 |
| Nationality | French |
| Political party | UDI Radical Party |
| Spouse | Maryse Joissains-Masini (divorced) |
| Children | Sophie Joissains |
| Occupation | Politician |
Alain Joissains (born 30 August 1942) is a French politician. He served as the Mayor of Aix-en-Provence from 1978 to 1983.
His father was a policeman. [1] He started working as a cabin boy at the age of fifteen and as a stevedore in Toulon by the age of seventeen. [1] He studied law at Aix-Marseille University and received a doctorate. [1] He started working as a lawyer in Aix. [1]
He became interested in politics upon his disappointment in General Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)'s abandonment of the harkis during the Algerian War of 1954-1962. [1] Instead,he supported Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber (1924-2006) and joined the Radical Party,a centre-right political party. [2]
He served as the Mayor of Aix-en-Provence from 1978 to 1983. [2] [3] During his tenure,he lowered the local tax by 2%,increased the number of pocket parks and car-parks,and encouraged low-income inhabitants to purchase the council flats they lived in. By January 1983,as he was set to be re-elected as mayor with a 66% majority,but was then accused by the tabloid newspaper Le Canard enchaîné of embezzlement in order to pay for the construction of his father-in-law's house in Saint-Antonin-sur-Bayon. [1] [3] He retorted that Gaston Defferre (1910-1986),who then served as Mayor of adjacent Marseille and as Minister of Interior Affairs,had schemed this plot to squander his chances of reelection. [1] However,he did receive a two-year suspended prison sentence for embezzlement. [1] Subsequently,his father-in-law committed suicide and he got divorced. [1] However,he still maintained he was innocent. [3]
In 1995,he published a memoir he co-wrote with his wife about his experience,entitled Sang et or:combat pour Aix-en-Provence (English:Blood and gold:the fight for Aix-en-Provence).
From 2001 to 2008,he served as an assistant to the Mayor of Aix,then his former wife. [2] [3] [4] He stepped down after he was accused of being paid too much for his position due to possible cronyism. [3] [4] [5] However,his wife suggested he was paid as much as former assistants to the Mayors of Aix. [2] Even though he no longer gets paid,he still attends the meetings of the city council,when he sits behind his wife. [3]
He was married to Maryse Joissains-Masini,who has served as the mayor of Aix-en-Provence since 2001. [2] [3] They have a daughter,Sophie Joissains,who serves as a French senator. [3]